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Mage Rules Summary

Misc Gaming Mechanics Index | Mage: The Ascension

Combat

Damage and Soak
Defender always gets to oppose with Soak. Defender will have a number of soak dice of each type (bruising, lethal and Aggravated). Only dice of that level or better may be rolled. Eg, a character may have low stamina, excellent armor, and a stone-skin effect up, giving him 2 bruising soak dice (stamina), 4 lethal soak dice (armor), and 1 aggravated soak die (spell). If he is hit with a bruising attack, he may roll all 7 dice. If a lethal attack, only 5, and if an aggravated attack, only the 1 aggravated die.

Dodging and Soaking Spells
Any physical effect may be dodged, as a normal dodge. Any non-physical effect may be dodged using Willpower in place of dodge + dexterity (otherwise as normal). Any effect may be soaked unless it is designed to cause Aggravated Damage, or is a Mind or Prime effect.

Spell Test
Resisted: Normal challenge (default Mental). Mage adds Sphere Levels. Resonance as Negative Trait.

Non-Resisted: Simple (if Coincidental) or Static (if Vulgar) Arete Test versus Spell Level.

Spell Level: level of highest Sphere plus one per additional sphere.

Overbid: Auto-success if Arete (plus bonuses) is twice spell level. Also applies to Static tests.

Healing: Each successive simple test heals one more (normal = easy, aggravated = hard) health level.

Damage: Each successive simple test (same as original challenge) inflicts one additional damage.

Duration: One Scene. Extended test: 1 = an hour, 2 = all night, 3 = a week, 4 = month, 5 = chronicle.

Bonuses: Quintessence (max Avatar), Node (1-2), Extra Time (1-4), Foci (1-2), Sanctum (+/-)

Penalties: Fast Cast (bid +1 Trait per sphere). Vulgar (bid +1 [unseen] or +2 [seen] Traits).

Other: Opponent (mage) may call Paradox Flaw as Negative Trait.

Willpower: Anyone may spend Willpower before rolling for any magical or Mental Challenge. Opponent may spend Willpower to ignore Coincidental Magick, or allow a reroll for Vulgar Magick. Mage may reroll a blocked Coincidental spell by declaring it Vulgar.

Spell Test
Countermagic Requires at least one point in each sphere used in the effect. Use coincidental magick effect to remove successes (1:1) from opponent’s effort. You can’t generate Paradox on a countermagic roll, even on a botch.

Mage must declare which type they are using before any rolls are made.

  • Resist: Add Sphere levels (plus bonuses) to Mage’s Trait totals. Can be used against non-magickal Challenges.
    • .
  • Sphere vs. Sphere: Works against any affect the Mage is aware of. Mental Challenge. Add in Spheres (Gift, Disciplines, etc.) plus other bonuses. Mage is considered to have Relented to original Challenge if Counter fails.
  • Anti-Magick: Works against anything which violates Paradigm or affects Mage. Simple Arete Challenge, plus bonuses. Mage is considered to have Relented if Negation fails. Garou use Gnosis or Rank, Wraiths use Pathos, Vampires get one per Gen under 10th.

Sphere Countermagick Examples
Correspondence 3: Modify caster’s spatial perceptions as a dodge; makes effect miss. If score as many successes as they needed for targeting, spell will still go off, but not where desired (Storyteller chooses targets, based on situation). Effect can never be turned back on the caster. Cannot be used on effects targeting only the caster.

Entropy 2: Reduce probability of success. Every 2 successes increases opponent’s difficulty by 1 (max +3).

Life 3: Give pain; try to distract enough to counter. Successes reduce 1:1.

Mind 3(2): Cause target to lose focus. Successes reduce 1:1. Mind 2 may be used in some circumstances, with a really well chosen urge.

Prime 2 (Antimagic): Strengthens static reality against target(s). Successes allow spending Quintessence (1:1). Quintessence spent increases opponent’s difficulty (max +3).

Prime 5: Disrupt opponent’s base quintessence flow. Successes reduce 1:1, and prevents opponent from using any Quintessence to reduce difficulty.

Spirit 3: Force opponent to see distracting spirits. Each 2 successes reduces opponent 1 (1:2).

Time 3: Distract or give visions of immediate past / future to mess up targeting. As Spirit 3 or as Correspondence 3.

Paradox
A WITNESS is defined as anyone who doesn’t believe that the effect being generated is possible. This includes sleepers, but also magi with paradigms that don’t allow for the effect. The effect is termed VULGAR if the total “weighted average” of reality and all witnesses are more than about half against it. This will be approximated, but magi will carry more “weight” in the average.

Spell

Initial Test

Arete Test

Paradox
Coincidental N/A 0
Vulgar, no witness Won or any tie N/A 1
Defeated Passed 0
Failed Spell Level
Vulgar, with witness Won or any tie N/A Spell Level
Defeated Passed 1
Failed (Spell Level) * 2
Subtract (or if hostile, add) the Sanctum Level from the amount of Paradox gained.

At the moment Paradox is earned, the recipient may use internal Quintessence to counter it. This must come from his Avatar; he can only spend up to his Avatar rating like this for any one effect.

Paradox Backlashs
Up to 5 points Mage gains a minor Paradox Flaw, usually a minor nuisance, per 2nd ed pg 176
5-10 points Roll (Paradox) dice of Health Level of bashing damage. One Paradox Flaw that adds 1 - 3 to the difficulty of all actions for (Paradox accumulated) turns.
11 – 15 points Roll (Paradox – 10) dice of lethal damage. One Paradox Flaw that adds 4 - 6 to the difficulty of all actions for (Paradox accumulated) turns, risks scoring more levels of health damage, or is just plain bizarre.
16-20 points Roll (Paradox-10) dice of aggravated damage, unsoakable. Paradox Flaw as 11-15 points.
21+ Roll (Paradox-20) aggravated damage, unsoakable. Paradox Flaw becomes permanent. Permanent paradox points. Mage may attract a Paradox spirit or be sent to a paradox realm.

Common Mage Objectives

Recharge Avatar at Node

Meditation + Intelligence, one hour. Limited to Avatar rating.

Recharge Avatar at Node, using Prime

Prime 3, coincidental. Each attempt takes one action, and grants one point per success, limited to both Avatar and Node ratings.

Gain Quintessence from Node

Prime 3, coincidental. Not limited to Avatar rating. May draw as often as you like. Each attempt takes one hour and grants one point per success, up to the Node’s rating. May be used to charge any target(s) that is using Prime 1 to store.

Gain Quintessence stored in other Pattern (eg, Tass)

Prime 3. Not limited to Avatar rating. May draw until pattern is empty. Each attempt takes one action.

Recharge Avatar without Node

Prime 5, coincidental. Takes one action. Gain one Quintessence per success, limited to Avatar rating.

Store Quintessence over Avatar rating

Prime 1, coincidental. If someone else channels Quintessence into you, you may store one point per success rolled.

Spend Quintessence

On Magick roll: up to your Avatar rating.

On Ability roll: Prime 3, coincidental. Spend points up to successes rolled; each reduces difficulty by one.

Dodge Paradox

Up to your Avatar rating. No more than once per casting / ritual, even if multiple rolls were made.

Power an Effect

Each point spent = one free success on duration. Permanent effects may only be achieved, with an additional continuous supply of Quintessence (at least 1 / week). Instantaneous effects can be made to have permanent results.

Ritual Magick

It will always take at least one hour per roll, longer if the ritual or objective is especially complex. Rolls are as normal, and successes are cumulative. Paradox is only applied when the ritual is complete, but is accumulated over the course of the ritual. Rituals are obvious. Anyone in the area with Awareness may, as an automatic free action, roll Perception + Awareness to identify that a ritual is occurring, and approximately where. Difficulty of the perception roll is determined by the size of the ritual, and modified if it is performed in the ritualist’s sanctum. It is important to set up good defenses around the ritual area, to keep people from interrupting (see below).

Interrupt a Ritual

Any appropriate skill may be used. Examples include shooting the leader of the ritual, using countermagic (see below), or stealing ritual foci (Dexterity + Subterfuge). Any such attempt forces the ritual leader to make an immediate Intelligence + Rituals roll. If the ritualist gets the same or fewer successes, the ritual is immediately failed, with a number of botch dice equal to the number of additional successes earned by the attacker. This usually causes immediate backlash, which will typically include the attacker.

Combine Magick

All magi must have the spheres necessary to cast the effect and must be in constant communication. All magi must cast the effect using the same paradigm. Successes and paradox are combined. If any caster botches, the entire spell is failed.

Assisting a roll

Many rolls can be assisted through use of another appropriate trait. The assistance may be performed by the same or another person, but must be performed before the main roll is made (can be same round, at earlier initiative). Magick may aid non-magick, and vice versa. Abilities may be used to aid different abilities, but Magick may not be used to aid magick. The assist roll is made at roughly the same base difficulty as the roll being assisted. Successes and botches apply difficulty modifiers to the final roll, on a 1:1 basis.

Umbrood
The term Umbrood is a general term for a variety of Otherworldly beings. Many mages argue about distinctions: is an Umbrood a god, a powerful spirit or just something weird? The mystic factions refer to Umbral denizens by a bewildering variety of names; the Technocracy calls such beings "aliens" when it chooses to acknowledge their existence at all. Storytellers should use the Spirit Creation rules in Laws of the Wild if they wish to have spirits play a part in their game.

Umbral Combat
All magick is considered coincidental in the Near Umbra, while there is no Paradox at all in the Deep Umbra. Mortal beings cannot physically harm spirits unless the Umbrood Materializes. Too bad it doesn't work the other way around. Mages with Intermediate Spirit or better can sidestep this rule; all others just swipe at ephemera. Weapons are equally ineffective unless they are Awakened or have been Enchanted by a Disciple of Prime. Life and Matter magicks are worthless unless the Umbrood Materializes. The Spirit Sphere works like Life and Matter when used on beings and objects of ephemera.
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